Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.

The Event: Dropping The A-Bomb

“True story: All of my photos are from this angle because I’m too embarrassed to ask people to pose for pictures.”

Let’s jump right into the superlative mode, ok? That was the BEST episode of The Event so far. There shall be no arguments. For the first time, The Event did a full-on character-centric episode by digging into Simon’s past on Earth and it was completely worth it. In Simon we have our first truly sympathetic character. Tonight’s Event invoked emotions and added depth to Simon that I honestly did not think would happen on this show. My apologies, The Event, please keep it going strong.

Kiss the 1940’s behind! WWII is over and Dwight D. Eisenhower is president. It’s 1954 California and times are good for Simon. (Just think, in less than a year, Marty McFly will return to 1955 California to make his parents fall in love and restore order to the space-time continuum.) Simon is falling in love with Violet in Venice Beach. Except, he’s going by the name Mason at this point in his life. Creepy Thomas watches the happy couple from down the beach and plots his creepiness.

You have to applaud Simon/Mason for being able to pull off the short shorts and the single buttoned shirt. Thomas confronts him and tells him it’s time to go because Simon has stayed too long in one spot. Simon is unable to say goodbye to Violet and we share in his sadness.

It’s the year 2000! Simon walks down the street with his co-worker having just finished their FBI training. Simon asked to be stationed in Alaska and we know what that’s all about, of course. As he passes a doorway, a much older Violet calls out to him as he recognizes her immediately. However, he denies her and walks away to maintain his cover. We share in Violet’s sadness.

Later on, Simon visits Violet and admits that he is the same person she fell in love with 46 years ago. He says that if it were up to him, he would have grown old with her and had a family with her. She says it was up to him and they hold each other and cry and we share in their sadness…

Whooosh whooosh whooosh! Back to the present!!

Sean and Leila have a quiet moment to reflect on all that’s happened in the last few days. He tells the tale of his escape from Avias Air 514 and breaks the unfortunate news to her that the bad guys killed her mom and took her sister. Also, he has a murder warrant against him. Time are tough all around.

Agent Angie gets this week’s bonus points by asking Carter the question “Who do you work for?” Five points for you! But it should have been you, Sean. It should have been you. Obviously, Carter’s not talking. But he is bleeding REALLY bad and would like a doctor ASAP.

Sean and Leila journey to her parents’ house to search for anything that will let them know why the bad guys chose Michael to fly Avias Air 514. In a secret folder in a secret box in a secret location, they find a bunch of maps and newspaper clippings about Alaska. Madeline Jackson interrupts their sleuthing via gunpoint. She is a former journalist turned government conspiracy theorist, which pays roughly the same. Two years ago, Michael Buchanan contacted her about a secret government facility he saw while flying near Anchorage, Alaska. At that time, Madeline had a website that posited an aircraft crashed in Alaska in 1944 and that the U.S. government imprisoned the survivors, not because of what they did but because of who they were. They are E.B.E.’s: Extraterrestrial Biological Entities or as they are more commonly known:

ALIENS, Y’ALL!!

On the other side of the country in D.C., Sophia rides the red line to the Gallery/Chinatown station. The President spiked her drink with some fake-sounding radioactive isotope so they can track her. As she exits onto 6th street, Thomas tells her to go to the Capitol Grind coffee shop which reminds me of Central Perk from Friends. I’m also wildly disappointed that there isn’t a coffee shop named Capitol Grind in D.C. Someone needs to get on that ASAP.

Simon slips into the coffee shop and spikes the coffee (is this communal free coffee?) with everyone’s favorite radioactive isotope that he swiped from the armory. Suddenly, there are two, three, forty-seven different dots moving around the screen as more people drink the isotope. Well played, Simon. I guess everyone was afraid to put their finger on their LCD monitors and track the original dot when it was only three or four of them.

We learn two new things while Sophia walks down the street: 1) She can apparently speak Chinese well enough to apologize to a man she bumps into and 2) Dogs don’t like her. The only assumption to be made is that she is a Chinese Terminator sleeper agent sent back in time to kill John Connor.

Simon gets word that they are looking for a traitor among the field teams. When the agent shows up to test everyone, Simon offers to test his men by himself. When the agent starts asking too many questions, Simon has no choice but to go upside his head with the briefcase and stick his body in the trunk. You should have kept your mouth shut, silly.

Thankfully, Blake’s gang is able to spot Sophia on the high definition zoom lens traffic cams. She enters the building and greets Thomas for the first time in 66 years. Thomas says he has a contingency plan if the meddling FBI agents get in his way.

Simon breaks into the same building and looks for Sophia and Thomas. The FBI agents are only two minutes behind. He finds them escaping through an underground shaft as the building starts to shake and fall apart. Rather than go with them, Simon goes back the way he came rescuing agents along the way. Suddenly, the ground opens up and there’s a giant swirling blue vortex thing chewing up the building? What the what?? It’s unclear but this is obviously one of Thomas’ devices of terror. Blake and President Martinez watch helplessly as the building implodes, collapses into a giant hole, and blows the minds of everyone watching. How are you going to cover this up, Mr. President?

We had three story arcs in this episode, each providing an important aspect of compelling television. Simon’s flashbacks were the emotional backbone. The Sean and Leila story provided mythology and answers (or confirmation thereof). Finally, the concurrent President Martinez/Sophia/Thomas/Simon subplot provided the action with a dusting of mythology in the form of the blue vortex of craziness.

Simon’s flashbacks reminded me of The Time Traveler’s Wife, which yes, is a better book than a movie so please read the book and quit thinking about Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. In the book, Henry is a time traveler who hops back and forth between his current time and some other point within his lifespan. He is always the same age but the people in his life are sometimes old and sometimes young. He, like Simon, must confront not growing old with his loved ones. Simon’s story is heartbreaking but he knew there would be a time, probably every 7-10 years, when he would have to move on to another city or another way of life. There is another cultural reference I could make here but I don’t want to ruin my street cred. Feel free to guess it in the comments.

As for Miss Madeline finally saying what we have all been thinking and calling them straight-up aliens, I think that’s far from the final answer. There are numerous “why” questions still lingering. For instance, why are they here? Why are they so similar to Earth people? Why are they all pacifists with the exception of Thomas? If they crashed in Alaska, where were they trying to land?

Seeing as The Event will take next week off before returning with a new episode on November 8th, now seems like a good time to do a State of The Event. The show has been upgraded to full season status even though ratings continue to slip. Personally, I have enjoyed the first six episodes almost across the board. The show does decent cliffhangers, not on the level of True Blood, Dexter, or LOST but strong enough to make me want to watch the next one right away. Most thrillers are fairly light on character development in an effort to move the plot along but tonight’s episode showed that The Event can slow it down when the moment warrants. While the use of flashbacks may seem cliché after watching 121.5 hours of LOST, let’s face it, it is a tried and true method of finding emotional resonance with the audience. In addition, “Loyalty” wasn’t a simple flashback episode as Simon was not in any of the Sean and Leila scenes. This allowed the overall narrative to move forward without dropping characters or plots for weeks at a time.

Thanks for reading everyone! Leave your thoughts and crackpot theories about what the blue pool of death was in the comments!

The Event airs Mondays at 8pm on NBC. The next new episode airs November 8th, 2010.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.